The Oklahoma City Thunder extended their winning streak to 13 games, their longest since moving to Oklahoma City, with a 116-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 29 points, while Jalen Williams added 18, helping Oklahoma City get closer to tying the franchise’s record for consecutive wins. Before becoming the Thunder in 2008, the Seattle Supersonics, with a 64-18 record, won 14 straight games during the 1995-96 season.
Oklahoma City’s defense took over in the third quarter, where they forced seven turnovers and turned them into 17 points, outscoring the Clippers 42-20. The Thunder scored a total of 31 points off turnovers in the game, leading the NBA in that category.
The Clippers, missing James Harden due to right groin soreness, have now lost two straight games. This was just the second game Harden has missed this season.
In the last two games, Oklahoma City has outscored its opponents 85-43 in the third quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points in the third quarter alone, including six free throws. He finished the game making 9 of 17 shots from the field and hitting all nine of his free throws.
Unlike in their win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, the Thunder didn’t allow a late-game comeback attempt by the Clippers.
This allowed Thunder coach Mark Daigneault to rest Gilgeous-Alexander for the entire fourth quarter, as it was the first game of a back-to-back.
The Clippers’ leading scorer, Norman Powell, had a tough night, missing his first 10 shots and making his first basket only four minutes into the fourth quarter. He finished with a season-low six points on 1-of-11 shooting.
Amir Coffey led Los Angeles with a season-high 26 points.
While the Clippers started strong, hitting seven of their first 10 shots, the Thunder struggled early, especially from three-point range. Oklahoma City made just one of nine attempts from beyond the arc in the first quarter, and the Clippers finished the period with a 10-2 run, leading by eight at the end of the first.
The Clippers pushed their lead to 16 points in the second quarter, after stretching their run to 20-4. But, similar to their performance on Tuesday, Oklahoma City gained some momentum heading into the third.
The Thunder cut the deficit to four with a running pull-up jumper by Jalen Williams just before the halftime buzzer. Williams finished with 18 points. The Thunder will look to extend their streak to 14 games on Friday against the New York Knicks.
